Lightning kills more than 60 cows in Chile

In this Monday, April 7, 2014 cell phone image provided by local station, Radio San Jose de Alcudia and downloaded from its Facebook page, a herd of cattle carcasses skirt a tree on a ranch in Rio Bueno, Chile. Ranchers in southern Chile say a series of lightning strikes spawned by storms has killed more than 60 of their dairy cows. (AP Photo/Radio San Jose de Alcudia)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Ranchers in southern Chile say a series of lightning strikes has killed more than 60 of their dairy cows, costing the cattle owners thousands of dollars.

Storms on Sunday spawned the strikes in south-central Chile. Worst hit was a ranch in Los Rios owned by Cecil Fourt, who says 54 of his cows were killed by lightning and another one was blinded. Another rancher, Claudio Toledo, says nine of his cows sheltering under a tree were struck and killed.

The El Austral newspaper reported Tuesday that workers were digging a deep pit to bury the cattle.